Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 0.2%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares traded down 0.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $716.09 and last traded at $721.43. 259,195 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 2,055,816 shares. The stock had previously closed at $722.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $320.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.21, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $730.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $664.86.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 26.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COST. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,628,694,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $510,353,000. C WorldWide Group Holding A S acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at $390,630,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $374,688,000 after acquiring an additional 552,492 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.